Meet Our Heroes

"A Sweeter Side of Life"

Danny Townsend

Townsend Sorghum Mill

Meet Our Hero

A Sweeter Side of Life
Danny Townsend
Townsend Sorghum Mill

An Army veteran who served during the Vietnam War, Kentucky farmer Danny Townsend proudly displays the Homegrown By Heroes sign at his booth when he sells sorghum at the Montgomery County Farmers Market in Mount Sterling, Kentucky.

While appreciative of the Homegrown By Heroes’support of veterans, Townsend is all too humble. “The guys that lost their lives over there were the heroes,” Townsend says. “I just went and did what I was asked to do. I’m just an ole country boy who made it back alive.”

Townsend’s main product is a genus of grasses used for ethanol and as an ingredient in high-end cuisine. Decades of practice have made Townsend’s Sweet Sorghum one of the nation’s best brands. In fact, the National Sweet Sorghum Producers and Processors Association (NSSPPA), of which Townsend is a charter member, has crowned his sorghum among the top two brands in the nation four times in the past 12 years. It was the national champion back-to-back in 2005-2006, and runner-up in 2001 and again in 2013.

"Back to his Roots"

Paul Kanning

Kanning Farm

Meet Our Hero

Back to his Roots
Paul Kanning
Kanning Farm

During his two decades in the Air Force, Paul Kanning spent two assignments as a squadron commander and fivein overseas deployments supporting contingency operations in Kosovo and Iraq. Kanning workedon F-15, F-16, F-22, and F-117 aircraft throughout his tours of duty. But, in 2013, a Lieutenant Colonel, he found it was time to retire and embark on a new journey – one that would take himback to his roots.

A fourth generation farmer,he formally purchased his family’s Montana farm, where he grows spring wheat, red lentils, and fava beans. In its 101st year of operation,today the Kanning farm is the setting of a Homegrown By Heroes business and includes 1,160 tillable acres and another 450 acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program.

Paul’s degrees include a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, Master of Business Administration, and Master of Military Operational Art and Science. He is an avid sportsman and enjoys participating in half-marathons.

"Persistence is Key"

Jamie Critelli

Floral Beauty Greenhouses

A former Army Reserve Captain,Jamie Critelli served his country for eight years. ... View Full Story

Meet Our Hero

Persistence is Key
Jamie Critelli
Floral Beauty Greenhouses

A former Army Reserve Captain,Jamie Critelli served his country for eight years. His calls of duty took him to Korea, Germany, Kosovo and Iraq; and when he returnedhome, he decided to go on another adventure: starting his own business. In 2010, he foundedFloral Beauty Greenhouses, a wholesale greenhouse company in New York.

“The single hardest thing was getting my head around the funding required, because it’s not cheap to get into farming,” Critelli says. “I had always assumed that coming out of the Army would mean something; that I’d have an easier time obtaining financing. But it still took a lot of persistence.”

Critelli hopes his persistence will pay off in the form oflong-term success, and that he’ll help raise the profile of the Homegrown By Heroes label—thereby helping his business and his fellow veterans as well.

“None of my soldiers were ever looking for a handout,” he says. “They just want a shot. I want people who buy this to think for a second about what it means for society as a whole. I think society needs to do a better job supporting veterans. People need to put a value on the things veterans do for a society.”

"Where Happy Hens Lay Healthy Eggs"

Dan Hromas

Prairie Pride Poultry

Meet Our Hero

Where Happy Hens Lay Healthy Eggs
Dan Hromas
Prairie Pride Poultry

Dan was born in North Dakota and raised in Nebraska. His family has a long military history; his grandpa served in the Army-Air Corps in WWII, his great-uncle was a Marine in WWII, his dad served in the Air Force during the end of Vietnam, and his mom enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1974. Upon graduating from high school, Dan, too enlisted in the military. Dan served four years on active duty in the Marine Corps, then [almost] two years active duty in the Army. In 2001, Dan was awarded an ROTC Scholarship and attended North Dakota State University, where he graduated (w/ honors) with a B.S. Microbiology. Dan received his commission in December 2004 and joined the Nebraska Army National Guard, where he served as a Transportation Corps Officer. During his time in both the Marine Corps, Army, and National Guard, he has been deployed all over the world and has seen many things; experienced many tragedies, experienced some of the lifelong challenges combat can bring, but also experienced many triumphs. One of the more common things Dan has seen, no matter where he is, is that people enjoy eating food.

In 2013, Dan Hromas started his small pastured poultry operation – Prairie Pride Poultry- in York, NE with a goal of providing healthy, farm fresh eggs to consumers. Prairie Pride Poultry is situated on three acres of pasture on the northeast edge of town, where his Rhode Island Reds truly range free. The farm’s motto is: “happy hens lay healthy eggs.”

Dan’s expanding poultry operation not only provides him with a living, but is healthful work for Dan as well. “The farm, and my ‘girls’ foraging out there,” Dan says, “are a type of therapy for me. I like to tell people that boredom is the most hazardous thing to my health, and that having 600 chickens helped keep me from being bored.”

Dan is a Farmer Veteran Coalition Fellow, and the recipient of grant support. FVC is proud to have Dan as one of our very first Homegrown by Heroes certified producers!

"We Are Not Done Yet"

Mark and Denise Beyers

HBH Maple Syrup Farmers

Mark and Denise Beyers are high school sweethearts who met in 1996. ... View Full Story

Meet Our Hero

We Are Not Done Yet
Mark and Denise Beyers
HBH Maple Syrup Farmers

Mark and Denise Beyers are high school sweethearts who met in 1996. They both joined the Marine Corps in 1998. In 2005, their unit was activated to go to Iraq. Denise stayed back in Buffalo with the Peacetime/Wartime Support Team while the rest of the company went overseas. On August 26, 2005, while on foot patrol, Mark was severely injured by an Improvised Explosive Device, losing his right arm and right leg below the knee. After life-saving care on the battlefield and in theater hospitals, Mark was stable enough to be transported to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD where Denise awaited him as he awoke from a medically-induced coma for the first time. After a month in Bethesda and many surgeries later, Mark was transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to get fitted for prosthetics and for physical and occupational rehabilitation. It wasn’t until a year later that Mark and Denise were able to return to their lives back in Buffalo, NY.

Once home, the couple found a house they fell in love with; a one story handicapped accessible ranch on 15 acres in beautiful hill in the country. It is here where they found happiness in gardening, farming and a self-sufficient lifestyle. In 2009, while Mark was deer hunting on their property, he noticed they owned many maple trees. That spring they tapped some trees, collected the sap and made maple syrup. They fell in love with making maple syrup and a few years later they started their own business called Beyers Maple Farm (www.beyersmaplefarm.com).

The Beyers also plant a garden full of vegetables every year. They have free range chickens that provide fresh eggs daily and they raise meat chickens during the summer. They love to teach their young daughter, Eva, all about nature and the many blessings it provides. Denise stresses to Eva that hard work is necessary for success in life – and so is stopping to smell the flowers.

FVC met the Beyers family in 2011 and shortly after Mark became one of our first Bob Woodruff Farming Fellows (www.remind.org). As we assisted with equipment purchases to help grow their business (they could not keep up with the demand for their syrup!) we started to get to know this amazing family. We’re proud to have Mark and Denise as our first Homegrown by Heroes national producers. It is our hope that they inspire the greater HBH community as they have all of us at FVC.

“The veterans we work with have served their country twice — once by defending it and now by feeding it.”

About HBH

The Mission

Our Mission is to engage the consumer in a completely new way by communicating that Homegrown By Heroes agricultural products represent the labors of hardworking veterans that have now chosen to become farmers to feed the nation. The Homegrown By Heroes label should represent authenticity, allowing consumers to proudly support veteran-farmers.

Eligibility

The Homegrown By Heroes marketing initiative will afford farmers and/or agricultural producers who have served in any branch of the United States Military (U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and coast Guard) the ability to use the Homegrown By Heroes logo on their agribusiness signage and /or agricultural products.

The Assignment

If you are a veteran or active duty member of any branch listed above and would like to be a part of the Homegrown By Heroes initiative, complete the short questionnaire by clicking the “Start Now” button above.

History of HBH

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture, led by Commissioner James Comer, developed a marketing initiative that affords farmer veterans the recognition, pride and consumer support of their agricultural business and products. The success of Kentucky’s efforts will be expanded to a national scale by FVC.

FVC is well positioned to promote, manage and enforce the use of the label given its strong network of over 2,600 veterans and unparalleled expertise in veteran-owned agriculture.

FVC will continue to work closely with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) to ensure that the ‘Homegrown By Heroes’ label will only endorse products that can pass the legally mandated safety thresholds to ensure consumer confidence. KDA’s ongoing support of the ‘Homegrown By Heroes’ label will support the expansion of Kentucky’s legacy to the entire Nation.

Transitioning Homegrown By Heroes to a national label is made possible by the generous support and advice of the member institutions of Farm Credit.